Sporks are awesome. So is food.

competition

The other week I headed down to Queen Victoria Market – and not to shop, as most people do.

Instead, I was there for a cooking class at The Fisher & Paykel Social Kitchen, a new venture that’s a dedicated, hands on cooking school located in the middle of the hustle and bustle of Queen Victoria Market.

Confession time. Who can’t function without a cup of coffee in the morning?

If I did a poll of people I know, I’m sure the majority would have their hands up. And mine would be high in the air because there’s not much about coffee that I don’t love: the aroma, the flavour, and even just the ritual of it. Coffee is so popular that it’s the second most traded product in the world (behind oil) which is pretty astounding.

In Australia, more people are focussing on having good quality coffee at home. Almost 40% of people in Australia own a device to make coffee at home, whether it’s something simple like a plunger through to a high end espresso machine (source: Roy Morgan).

My home coffee maker of choice is the Aeropress, so I’m always on the hunt for good coffee beans. Price wise it makes more sense to make your own coffee, with a cup costing a fraction of a cafe coffee, but what I like the most is that I can buy beans and make a brew that suits my personal taste.

I have people over for dinner all the time. But it’s usually a casual affair: a text message or email invite, a jumble of food in the middle of the table, and paper serviettes.

And don’t get me wrong – casual is great. I love having people over and cooking and catching up. But there’s something really nice about the thought of a proper dinner party, and I do think sometimes that I should go to more effort.

King Island Dairy have launched an ebook on hosting a perfect dinner party: perfectdinnerparty.com.au. Along with tips on how to make one run smoothly, there’s also tips on putting together the perfect cheese plate.

You know that I’m a bigfan of STREAT, which is a social enterprise that provides young homeless people in Melbourne with hospitality training and work experience.

Well last night STREAT launched their new cookbook and officially opened their new cafe at Melbourne Central, which joins the cafes in Flemington and McKillop Street in supporting and training young people at risk of homelessness.

The hardcover cookbook contains recipes from around the world created by STREAT’s head chef Rob Auger, as well as a foreword and recipe from Poh.

Taste of Melbourne is back! This year it’s in a brand new shiny location at Albert Park Lake from Thursday 15 November – Sunday 18 November.

And thanks to Hothouse Media and Taste of Melbourne, I have 5 double passes to give away that can be used for the Thursday and Friday sessions.

Restaurants involved this year include:

MoVida

Mamasita

Mahjong

Saké

The Point Restaurant

The Aylesbury Restaurant & Rooftop

Taxi Dining Room

The Atlantic

Mr. Hive Kitchen & Bar

The Botanical

Libertine

Livingroom Restaurant

Albert St Food & Wine

To win a double pass, leave a comment on this post telling me which restaurant’s food you’d most like to try. Make sure you include a valid email address when you comment – it won’t be published, but I’ll use it to contact you if you win.

This competition will close at 10am on Saturday 10 November, and I’ll draw the winners randomly. Good luck!

Update: This competition has now closed. Congratulations to Nisha, Biren, Christine, Trish and Jac.

Is Quay in Sydney on your list of places to eat but you haven’t quite made it there yet? How about the next best thing? How about attending a cooking class with Quay’s chef, Peter Gilmore, instead?

Peter Gilmore will be holding a class on Friday 19 October, from 6:30pm-8:30pm, at the Electrolux Cooking School at the Queen Victoria Market and I have a double pass to give away to one lucky person.

All you need to do is leave a comment on this post and I’ll draw the winner randomly. Make sure you include a valid email address when you comment – it won’t be published, but I’ll use it to contact you if you win.

This competition will close at 10am this Thursday 18 October, and I’ll email the winner for details straight away. If you’re entering, please ensure you’re actually available to attend the event – remember it’s this Friday 19 October starting at 6:30pm at the Queen Victoria Market.

Good luck!

Update: This competition has closed. Congratulations Daisy! Hope you enjoy.

Disclosure: I’m not being paid for this post. Nor am I receiving anything. Why am I posting this? Because YOU could win one of two Bill Granger cookbooks! And also because I do sincerely like the idea behind Australia Unlimited. Read to the end for competition details.

Also, thanks to Brand Australia and Ogilvy PR for the prize. Images are courtesy of Australia Unlimited.

So you all know that I’m not technically an Australian. But I do consider myself one (as well as being Kiwi and Chinese – in no particular order). Having been here for nearly 9 years, I’ve grown to love this country (but don’t tell the people back home in NZ… I think I’ll be lynched! :p )

Long time readers will know this about me: my gardening skills suck. Need evidence of exactly how terrible a gardener I am? I once tried to grow cat grass and was unsuccessful. GRASS, folks. I couldn’t grow GRASS.

I keep trying though, because I live in hope that one day I will have a wonderful, lush, green garden to go with my effortlessly stylish, clean house.